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  • Jackson & Nyström 2014(post print)

    Rights statement: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in Research Papers in Education on 27/10/2014, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02671522.2014.970226

    Accepted author manuscript, 183 KB, Word document

    Available under license: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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'Smart students get perfect scores in tests without studying much': why is an effortless achiever identity attractive, and for whom is it possible?

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

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'Smart students get perfect scores in tests without studying much': why is an effortless achiever identity attractive, and for whom is it possible? / Jackson, Carolyn; Nyström, Anne-Sofie.
In: Research Papers in Education, Vol. 30, No. 4, 2015, p. 393-410.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Jackson, C & Nyström, A-S 2015, ''Smart students get perfect scores in tests without studying much': why is an effortless achiever identity attractive, and for whom is it possible?', Research Papers in Education, vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 393-410. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2014.970226

APA

Jackson, C., & Nyström, A-S. (2015). 'Smart students get perfect scores in tests without studying much': why is an effortless achiever identity attractive, and for whom is it possible? Research Papers in Education, 30(4), 393-410. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2014.970226

Vancouver

Jackson C, Nyström A-S. 'Smart students get perfect scores in tests without studying much': why is an effortless achiever identity attractive, and for whom is it possible? Research Papers in Education. 2015;30(4):393-410. Epub 2014 Oct 27. doi: 10.1080/02671522.2014.970226

Author

Jackson, Carolyn ; Nyström, Anne-Sofie. / 'Smart students get perfect scores in tests without studying much' : why is an effortless achiever identity attractive, and for whom is it possible?. In: Research Papers in Education. 2015 ; Vol. 30, No. 4. pp. 393-410.

Bibtex

@article{4c37e3c35361471595610f4831d5d788,
title = "'Smart students get perfect scores in tests without studying much': why is an effortless achiever identity attractive, and for whom is it possible?",
abstract = "Discourses about the value of effort and hard work are prevalent and powerful in many western societies and educational contexts. Yet, paradoxically, in these same contexts effortless achievement is often lauded, and in certain discourses is heralded as the pinnacle of success and a sign of genius. In this paper we interrogate discourses about effort and especially {\textquoteleft}effortlessness{\textquoteright} in Swedish and English educational contexts. Informed, in particular, by interview data generated in upper secondary schools in Sweden and secondary schools in England, we address the questions: why is effortless achievement attractive, and for whom is it possible to be discursively positioned as an effortless achiever? We argue that the subject position of {\textquoteleft}effortless achiever{\textquoteright} is not available to all categories of students equally, and for some it would be almost impossible to attain; the intersections of gender, social class, ethnicity and institutional setting are influential. We end by considering the problematic implications of effortless achievement discourses.",
keywords = "effortlessness, effort , gender, social class , intelligence",
author = "Carolyn Jackson and Anne-Sofie Nystr{\"o}m",
note = "18 month embargo This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in Research Papers in Education on 27/10/2014, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02671522.2014.970226",
year = "2015",
doi = "10.1080/02671522.2014.970226",
language = "English",
volume = "30",
pages = "393--410",
journal = "Research Papers in Education",
issn = "0267-1522",
publisher = "N F E R Nelson Publishing Limited",
number = "4",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - 'Smart students get perfect scores in tests without studying much'

T2 - why is an effortless achiever identity attractive, and for whom is it possible?

AU - Jackson, Carolyn

AU - Nyström, Anne-Sofie

N1 - 18 month embargo This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in Research Papers in Education on 27/10/2014, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02671522.2014.970226

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - Discourses about the value of effort and hard work are prevalent and powerful in many western societies and educational contexts. Yet, paradoxically, in these same contexts effortless achievement is often lauded, and in certain discourses is heralded as the pinnacle of success and a sign of genius. In this paper we interrogate discourses about effort and especially ‘effortlessness’ in Swedish and English educational contexts. Informed, in particular, by interview data generated in upper secondary schools in Sweden and secondary schools in England, we address the questions: why is effortless achievement attractive, and for whom is it possible to be discursively positioned as an effortless achiever? We argue that the subject position of ‘effortless achiever’ is not available to all categories of students equally, and for some it would be almost impossible to attain; the intersections of gender, social class, ethnicity and institutional setting are influential. We end by considering the problematic implications of effortless achievement discourses.

AB - Discourses about the value of effort and hard work are prevalent and powerful in many western societies and educational contexts. Yet, paradoxically, in these same contexts effortless achievement is often lauded, and in certain discourses is heralded as the pinnacle of success and a sign of genius. In this paper we interrogate discourses about effort and especially ‘effortlessness’ in Swedish and English educational contexts. Informed, in particular, by interview data generated in upper secondary schools in Sweden and secondary schools in England, we address the questions: why is effortless achievement attractive, and for whom is it possible to be discursively positioned as an effortless achiever? We argue that the subject position of ‘effortless achiever’ is not available to all categories of students equally, and for some it would be almost impossible to attain; the intersections of gender, social class, ethnicity and institutional setting are influential. We end by considering the problematic implications of effortless achievement discourses.

KW - effortlessness

KW - effort

KW - gender

KW - social class

KW - intelligence

U2 - 10.1080/02671522.2014.970226

DO - 10.1080/02671522.2014.970226

M3 - Journal article

VL - 30

SP - 393

EP - 410

JO - Research Papers in Education

JF - Research Papers in Education

SN - 0267-1522

IS - 4

ER -